Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States, even despite the significant advances in cancer treatments made over the past several decades. Many factors contribute to the limited success in fighting cancer. Late diagnosis, often after the cancer has already spread to distant locations, is certainly a major reason why many patients are incurable.
The modern-day approach to cancer treatments is a multidisciplinary one, consisting primarily of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, in varying combinations. However, any approach is only as good as its components. All three of these cancer treatments function within a limit called the "therapeutic window". This concept refers to the ability of a treatment to kill cancer cells while minimizing the toxicity to healthy, normal cells.
Cancer treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, proton therapy, complementary medicine, and cutting edge technologies.
Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (CAM)
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is
defined as interventions that are neither taught widely
in medical schools, nor traditionally available in US
Hospitals. CAM can be broken down into two broad categories
I) those that are ingested or injected and II) those that
require a practitioner or therapist. Herbals, vitamins,
organics, chemicals and diet are examples of the first
group and meditation, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture,
body-mind therapy, and prayer are examples of the second.
As a patient, it is always a good idea to discuss the
use of CAM with your oncologist. Not only will it make
them aware of other therapies you are using, but also
the reasons that you may need them such as insomnia, pain,
depression, anxiety, etc. Bringing along any data or literature
you may have will be helpful to your doctor. As well,
there are multiple Internet websites available for you
to research CAM. Try looking at several, from a variety
of different groups (manufacturers, support groups, medical)
before starting complementary therapies. The National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
website is a good starting place - http://nccam.nih.gov.
Proton Therapy Cancer Treatments
Protons are large particles with a positive charge
that penetrate matter to a finite depth based on the energy
of the beam. Robert Wilson first proposed to use protons
for the treatment of cancer in a scientific article in
1946.? He recognized the importance of highly localized
deposition of energy as a way of increasing the dose to
the tumor while minimizing the dose to normal tissues.
With the development of the CT scanner, improved target
definition allowed for the treatment of almost any site
in the body.? During the 1970s, the Massachusetts General
Hospital conducted the first research on mixed proton/X-ray
radiotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer.? Unfortunately,
during this decade, the role of protons in radiotherapy
was significantly underestimated in favor of neutron therapy.?
However, proton therapy survived this time of limited
acknowledgment and interest in this therapy is rapidly
increasing.? Over 33,000 patients have now been treated
with proton therapy worldwide. The subsequent development
of MRI, SPECT, and PET scanning has further improved target
definition and allows even further benefits of proton
therapy.
Surgical Oncology Cancer Treatments
There are various surgical procedures used to treat
many types of cancer.
Targeted Therapy Cancer Treatments
A cutting edge technology that deals with drugs
which target specific pathways in the growth and development
of tumors. Surgery and radiation therapy have often been
described as physical solutions to a biological problem.
Chemotherapy, often the cornerstone of treatment in advanced
and palliative cases, can be viewed as more of a chemical
solution to a biological problem. From the ongoing quest
to improve our therapeutic arsenal, a newer, fourth weapon
has emerged in the fight against cancer: targeted therapies.
This is an ever-growing and exciting new field of research
and development. The list of targeted agents is growing
at an amazingly fast rate, and many drugs are still in
the early stages of laboratory research and development.
Vaccine Therapies Cancer Treatments
This is one of the more complex topics in cancer
treatment and one of the most rapidly changing fields
of cancer research. Cancer vaccines remain an important
and growing area of cancer research. Cancer Specialists
are still quite a ways away from incorporating cancer
vaccines into the routine care of cancer patients. Nevertheless,
the possibility of using the body's own immune system
to destroy cancer cells remains an appealing possibility
and results of early trials are promising. Research into
new ways of treating cancer, such as cancer vaccines,
remains critical in the ongoing fight against cancer.
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Therapy
